Some Calif. residents fight plan for three large solar plants

In a David vs. Goliath matchup, a handful of San Luis Obispo County, Calif., residents are trying to stop plans to build three commercial solar plants in California Valley.

The Carrisa Alliance for Responsible Energy, or C.A.R.E., is a group of activists who are concerned about the wholesale changes the plants will bring to the isolated area and the impacts they would have on the environment.

The group doesn’t have members but counts about 50 supporters, said Robin Bell, lead activist. They believe the plants are part of a fundamentally flawed approach to green energy. They want the state to move away from what they say is an archaic, utility-based energy system and emphasize instead conservation and promote distributed energy. Distributed systems rely more on rooftop solar and small-scale wind turbines that generate power that is used locally rather than being fed into a statewide electricity grid.